The Powerpuff Girls (2016 TV series)
:This article is about the new series of the Powerpuff Girls which began to air in April 2016. For the original series, see The Powerpuff Girls (1998 TV series). The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series and a reboot to the television series of the same name created by Craig McCracken. Cartoon Network announced the series in June 2014; in 2015, they announced that the new series would feature new voice actors for the three main characters. It premiered on the network in April 2016 in the United States, Asia, United Kingdom and Australia. Plot The Powerpuff Girls features Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup; three girl superheroes whose purposes are to reduce crime in between living a normal childhood. Unlike the original series, the 2016 reboot takes a more "slice-of-life" approach and mostly tells about the Girls when they're not fighting crime. Production Cartoon Network announced on June 16, 2014, that they had revived The Powerpuff Girls in a new series, which is to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Rob Sorcher, chief content officer of the network, said that an "overwhelming demand" prompted the new series to be created. In their 2015 upfront on February 19, the network announced that Nick Jennings would be its executive producer. Bob Boyle will also produce. Meanwhile, Craig McCracken, original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, is not working on the series. Amanda Leighton, Kristen Li, and Natalie Palamides were announced as the new voice actors of the main characters; Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup—replacing the original respective voice actors Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, and Elizabeth Daily. Tom Kenny, the voice of Mayor and the narrator in the old show, reprises his role, however. After the network revealed multiple promotional images from the new series in June 2015, writers from news sites described the visual look as similar to the original series, despite that the Powerpuff Girls special Dance Pantsed, broadcast in 2014, featured a different art style rendered in CGI. Roger L. Jackson returns as Mojo Jojo, and Jennifer Hale as Ms. Keane and Sedusa, but not as Princess Morbucks.1 Tom Kane returns as Professor and Him, and Jim Cummings as Fuzzy Lumpkins. The recasting of the main characters came to the sadness of Cavadini, Daily, and Strong, the latter of who, on Twitter, called it "a stab in the heart". She had announced after the upfront in February that this was a "strictly creative" desicion by the network, though in June of the same year said that the network had never contacted either her or Cavadini and Daily prior to the decision to recast. According to Kenny, McCracken gave the new show his approval. Upon the release of the information on the new show, it was revealed that the original voice actresses behind Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, were not asked by Cartoon Network to come back for the new series, and new actresses will be used instead; Amanda Leighton, Kristen Li, and Natalie Palamides. The original voice actor behind The Mayor and the Narrator, Tom Kenny, shall return however, along with other voices from the original series, includiung Roger L. Jackson, Tom Kane, Jennifer Hale, and Jim Cummings. On May 26, 2016, Natalie Palamides confirmed that the show has been renewed for a second season. The reboot had a crossover with Teen Titans Go! ''with a episode titled, "TTG v PPG", on June 30, 2016. Cast Main Cast *'Amanda Leighton' - Blossom, Ms. Bellum (Bye Bye Bellum) *'Kristen Li''' - Bubbles *'Natalie Palamides' - Buttercup, Barry, Barbarus Bikini Supporting Cast *'Tom Kenny' - The Mayor of Townsville, Narrator, Old Man, Radio Annoucer #2, Fancy Monster, Matador #1, Big Joey, British Guy #1, Duke-a-Cola, Male Social Study teacher, Nicky *'Tom Kane' - Professor Utonium, HIM, Arcade employee, Archeolgist #1, Meter Man *'Roger L. Jackson' - Mojo Jojo, Construction worker monster *'Jennifer Hale' - Ms. Keane, Donny's mother, Archeologist #2, German Teacher, Judge Trudy, Female News Reporter, Female Nerd Student *'Haley Mancini' - Princess Morbucks *'Jeff Bennett' - Ace, Janitaur *'Jim Cummings' - Fuzzy Lumpkins *'Chuck McCann' - The Amoeba Boys Additonal Voices *'Dee Bradley Baker' - Radio DJ, Cheepy *'Eric Bauza' - Allegro, Secret Swapper, Dr. Kanzington *'Roger Craig Smith' - Schedulebot, Toni, Zach *'Kate Higgins' - Maylyn *'Josh Fadem' - Donny *'Anais Fairweather' - Jemmica *'Catherine Reitman' *'Maurice LaMarche' - Manboy *'Jill Talley' *'James Kirkland' *'Lily Vonnegut '- Bianca Bikini *'Jason Spisak' - Packrat, Silico *'Jon Miller' *'Fred Tatasciore' - Chef Schintzel, Nick, Yeti #1 *'Holly Palmer '- Bubbles' Singing Voice *'Cindy Robinson' *'Sonal Shah' - Sapna *'Kate Miccuci' - Hope *'Jessica DiCicco' *'Laura Bailey' - Bluebelle *'Frank Welker' - Dragon *'Jennie Pierson - '''Lunch Lady *'Jake Goldman''' - Jared Shapiro *'Joshua Black' - Matt Manser *'Betsy Sodaro - '''Eddie *'Tress Macneille - Zeitgiest *'''Kirby Howell-Baptiste - Chelsea Broadcast and reception Cartoon Network US premiered the series on April 4, 2016. Cartoon Network UK premiered the series on April 25, 2016. Despite having an initially strong rating, it eventually weakened drastically, to the point that very few new episodes reached over a million ratings. Most of the newer ones were below a million ratings, making the series' future look pretty bleak. So far, the series has received mixed reviews from critics and mostly negative reactions from fans. On IMDb, the series has a general rating of 3.6/10 based on 1,013 reviews, and on TV.com, the show holds a 5.1/10 based on 36 votes. The show has been praised for its voice acting and opening sequence but heavily criticized for the jokes, the lessons, the overall animation quality, the decreased amount of crime-fighting, the absence of the Narrator and the portrayal of the Girls, which includes the fact that Cathy Cavadini, E. G. Daily and Tara Strong were replaced as their voices. Craig McCracken, the creator of the original series, has stated on Twitter that, although he understood why the reboot was made from a business standpoint, he was unhappy with the decision and "never officially gave it his blessing". On IMDb, the highest rating any episodes got was, at most, a 6.0/10 rating, with the highest-rated episode being Road Trippin'. It's lowest-rated episode, The Wrinklegruff Gals, gained a 3.1/10 rating. In comparison, the original series' highest rated episode is The Rowdyruff Boys, which gained a 8.6/10 rating, and its lowest-rated episode, Sun Scream/''The City of Frownsville'', holds a 5.6/10 rating. This means, in typical reboot fashion, the 2016 series, so far, failed to properly succeed the original series, despite the executives wanting to make it better than the original series. However, on Commonsensemedia.org, the series gained a slightly more positive reception than in TV.com and especially IMDb. In it, the series gained a 3/5 rating based on 13 reviews, giving it a passable rating (but nothing compare to its predecessor). Episodes * The Powerpuff Girls (2016 TV series) Episode Guide Trailers and Promos The Powerpuff Girls Character Promos COMING in APRIL Cartoon Network Asia The Powerpuff Girls 2016 Speedlines (New Show) "Coming in April" Promo The Powerpuff Girls 2016 Reboot - Sneak Peek The Powerpuff Girls TV Promo - COMING IN APRIL! The Powerpuff Girls 2016 TV Promo - Cartoon Network HD The Powerpuff Girls Intense Promo Cartoon Network Powerpuff Girls 5 Reasons You're Actually Bubbles Cartoon Network Powerpuff Girls 5 Reasons You're Actually Buttercup Cartoon Network Powerpuff Girls 5 Reasons You're Actually Blossom Cartoon Network Gallery For the gallery of the series, click here. Trivia *Unlike their 1998 counterparts from the original 1998 TV series, in this series the girls can create energy constructs in a style of DC Comics superhero Green Lantern. *The narrator does not usually say "The City of Townsville..." for the beginning line and the classic outro "And so once again the day is saved, thanks to... The Powerpuff Girls" for the ending line. *Unlike the original series, most of the episodes are aired separately, instead of both all together. *The show's premiere date of April 4, 2016 is a math equation (4 X 4 = 16). *The episodes The Wrinklegruff Gals and Power-Up Puff shows the girls' transition from Pokey Oaks Kindergarten to Midway Elementary School and their newfound ability to create energy constructs, fans to strongly believe this show and the original show sharing the same continuity, and that the reboot is actually a sequel to the original series as opposed to being a true reboot with its own continuity (much like Powerpuff Girls Z). However, the episode "The Wrinklegruff Gals" reveals that the 2016 version of Mojo Jojo has a mother in that episode. Therefore it still remains a true reboot with its own continuity. Category:2016 TV series Category:TV Shows